In US there is CAN-SPAM which says as long as you provide the true
identity of the person and option for the receiver to unsubscribe it
is okay to send the unsolicitated mails. What is equivalent of this in
UK (England),Canada, and Australia. In the answer please provide
reference for your information.

Dear Dodododo

In Australia, SPAM ACT 2003 (in force as of 10th April 2004)
<http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/pasteact/3/3628/top.htm> :
A sender of commercial mail - 
(1) Must provide a clear opt-out option
(2) Must include accurate (and clear) sender information

The mail must not be unsolicited. 

In Canada, there is no one law regarding spam, that refers to all
facets of the problem. However, under the 'Personal Information
Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) "commercial bulk
e-mailers who establish or acquire lists of e-mail addresses must
ensure that recipients have given some form of consent to commercial
solicitation. This law also specifies that e-mail addresses can only
be used for the purpose for which they are collected, and that the
owners of these e-mail addresses must consent to any secondary use."
(SOURCE: An Anti-Spam Action Plan for Canada, Industry Canada, May
2004, <http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inecic-ceac.nsf/en/h_gv00246e.html>).

There are no similar provisions regarding identification of the
sender, or regarding opt out.

I have nothing to add to Owain's comment regarding the situation in
England/Wales. However, please note that several initiatives currently
take place in the EU, part of which is the UK.

I hope that this answered your question. Please remember, that
"Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general
information, and are not intended to substitute for informed
professional [...] legal [...] advice", and that the situation of
anti-Spam legislation is pretty dynamic, with many new developments.
However, please contact me if you need any clarifications on this
answer before you rate it.

Search terms: anti spam legislation [name of country]

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Request for Answer Clarification by dodododo-ga on 09 Aug 2004 08:33 PDT

I am not very clear about the answer..Can you tell me in
straightforward way, are unsolicitated emails allowed in these
countries and if yes, what rules should they follow

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Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 09 Aug 2004 12:58 PDT

Dear dodododo, 

It is prohibited to send unsolicited mails in/from/to Australia, to
Australian addresses, or mails containing Australian links.

It is currently not prohibited to send unsolicited mails in Canada, as
long as you have used opt-in lists of people who gave their consent to
receive such mail (without transferring lists or getting them from any
other partner, unless the user have expressed their consent to give
the address to secondary uses.

For UK (England)

New legislation on unsolicited commercial email (also known as ?spam?
or ?junk? mail) came into force on 11 December 2003.

The new legislation includes two new rules for email marketing:
- The sender must not conceal their identity and must provide a valid
address for opt-out requests.
- Senders of UNSOLICITED email marketing messages to individual
subscribers must only do so with the recipient?s PRIOR consent.

The law is The Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications
(2002/58/EC)  Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 2426. The text is at:
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032426.htm

Information is at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/internetcrime/preventionadvice/
http://www.dti.gov.uk/industries/ecommunications/directive_on_privacy_electronic_communications_200258ec.html
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=35

Owain